Fragrant Musings — perfume

As the drama of autumn unravels and the curtain begins to slowly fall, mother nature lays down her coat of brilliant scarlet and gold. Her skirted blooms droop, her branches are stripped bare, and what fruit has been left behind returns to the soil, often with a sticky, wet pop. If Libra ushers autumn in with the beauty of abundance, then Scorpio balances the scales with the seduction of decay.

Libra carries with them the sweet scent of the season’s tricks and treats on the air, and feels right at home partaking in rites of gathering, apple-picking, and admiring the butter yellow hues of hay, husks, and goldenrod.. So—how have the first days of this Venusian season been treating you? Have the scales helped restore your footing after the initial tumble into the month? Libra is delighted to restore order, and beckons us to savour the slow, dizzying ecstasy of transmutation. Change occurs to reinstate equilibrium, after all, and we’re choosing to gracefully lean into the pull.

A mutable, Mercury-ruled earth sign, mindful maiden Virgo demands that we make stock of the ways we’ve grown and the crops we’ve gathered throughout the first three quarters of the year before we move into the last. Mercury retrograde, too, began on August 23rd, joining Venus in inviting us to stop, reflect, and carefully (re)consider our next steps before proceeding. While it may feel counterintuitive or disharmonious, there is divinity within the timing of this transit; Virgo is no stranger to splitting the wheat from its shaft, and though she thrives best in the company of the communities she works so...

The Sun began its ingress into Leo on July 22nd, where it will languor until the 23rd of August. Adversely, Venus, ruler of the sensual world, began its retrograded course just moments before; a difficult transit that will have us grappling with the pleasure sectors in our lives into September. When stationed retrograde, Venus severs us from her enveloping hold and implores us to review the areas and dynamics in our lives which feel barren and depleting, while solar Leo commends recognition for its brilliance. When feeling obscured by Venus' shadow, conjure Leo's pride and allow yourself the awareness of...